All our summer pools are open – and here is a preview of them

12 January 2015: Welcome Back Waltham

Waltham Lido Pool is reopening on Saturday 17 January, with a Welcome Back Waltham pool party on Sunday 18 January.

The Christchurch City Council facility would attract more than 17,000 people each summer before its closure due to earthquake damage. Facilities include a shallow water lido leisure area for young children, a toddlers' pool, a lane pool for lap swimming, a hydro-slide and a landscaped, grassed BBQ space.

As well as fixing and strengthening the pool, the Council has revamped things and make effective use of recycled materials. In addition to the upgrades – new signage, landscaping, roofing, re-sizing the plant room, fencing, painting, shade sails and other small improvements – the Council has included the old reception desk from the Lyttelton service centre as well as wall brackets from QEII Park. Read more here.

12 January 2015: Scarborough Paddling Pool is back!

The Scarborough Paddling Pool re-opened to the public on Saturday 20 December 2014.

Christchurch City Council has rebuilt the paddling pool on Scarborough Esplanade, which has been closed to the public since it was damaged beyond repair in the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The new facility includes a splash pad, seating and water toys alongside the paddling pool. Permanent fencing and landscaping will be completed and timber shade pavilions will be installed in time for the pool’s official opening party on 4 February 2015.

17 December 2014: Bishopdale Community Centre and Library

Christchurch City Council is currently investigating options for a replacement Bishopdale Community Centre and Library, including a potential rebuild. This is to replace the closed facility in Bishopdale Mall, which has been deemed uneconomic to repair. For more information, see our first e-update [PDF, 123 KB].

9 December 2014: New Aranui Community Centre

Planning for the new Aranui youth and community facility is progressing well. Construction is due to begin in mid-2015 on the facility, which is the Council's first new community centre to be built since the earthquakes. For more information see the FAQs [PDF, 116 KB]. You can view the plans for the facility here [PDF, 1.64 MB].

1 December 2014: Community representatives to have input into final Sumner Community Facility design

A Joint Working Group (JWG) that will have input into the final design of the new Sumner Community Facility has been formed.

The Hagley/Ferrymead Community Board confirmed the make up of the group at its 19 November meeting. The group comprises Max Capocaccia, Peter Hansen, Collette Doughty, Humphrey Archer, Hagley/Ferrymead Board Chair Sara Templeton, Councillor Paul Lonsdale and Council staff representatives. Chris Mene will act as an independent facilitator for the group.

The JWG will meet for the first time on Tuesday 2 December. The group will meet up to four times from December to March next year.

The purpose of the JWG is to provide recommendations, guidance and advice to the Council’s Libraries and Information Unit and the project team to ensure that the design of the new facility meets the needs of the community.

The JWG will be taking into account feedback received from a successful community workshop held in Sumner on 23 November. About 30 residents attended the workshop where they had the opportunity to develop, share and discuss their ideas for the design of the new facility.

The JWG will report its recommendations back to the Hagley/Ferrymead Community Board.

4 September: Rebuild and repair of Council facilities to accelerate

Mayor Lianne Dalziel has announced Christchurch City Council is committing more than $40 million to fast-track the repair and rebuild of ‘priority’ community and heritage facilities across the city and Banks Peninsula.

At an Earthquake Recovery Committee of the Whole meeting at North Brighton Community Centre, Mayor Dalziel said the Council had set aside a total of $29,087,059 for the repair and rebuild of community facilities and a further $11,703,596 for heritage facilities.

An additional $5 million has also been allocated to a hot salt water pool ‘legacy’ project at New Brighton.

The funding will come from the Council’s Facilities and Infrastructure Improvement New Borrowing Allowance ahead of insurance discussions being finalised on the facilities. The proceeds of any insurance claim will be returned to the allowance.

Mayor Dalziel says work will begin immediately on many of the facilities now that funding has been approved. The focus is on repairing earthquake-damaged buildings that are closed and rebuilding facilities that have been demolished. It is expected that much of the repair work will be completed within the next year and it is likely to take up to two years for all the new priority facilities to be rebuilt. Staff will be developing a programme of works for the delivery of these projects and this will be available within eight weeks.

Update - 28 July 2014: Aranui Wainoni Family Centre demolition

Christchurch City Council began demolition of the Aranui Wainoni Family Centre in Hampshire Street last week, making way for a new youth and community facility to be built on the site.﻿The demolition of the earthquake-damaged family centre at 31 Hampshire Street is expected to be complete next month. The site will be grassed over until construction of the new facility – which is the Council’s first new community centre to be built since the earthquakes – begins. A number of trees will be removed from the site during the demolition as they are close to the damaged building. New trees will be planted when the new facility is built.

Construction of the new youth and community facility is expected to begin early next year after detailed and developed design work is completed, a contractor is appointed to undertake the construction and consents granted.

Sports groups will be able to use the Denton Oval amenities block - which contains showers and changing facilities - again following the completion of repair and strengthening work.

The Hornby Rugby Club, Canterbury Track Cycling, Canterbury Rugby League and many other groups have traditionally used the amenities block. The repaired building will now be in use for a good portion of the winter sports season.

The repair took three weeks, and involved placing specially-fabricated steel frames inside and outside the building. The Council has also carried out some minor repair work internally and upgraded the electrical system within the building, including the installation of a new switchboard.

The building, located under the main grandstand at Denton Park, was quake-damaged in 2011. The building was closed after a Detailed Engineering Evaluation report scored it at 22 per cent of the New Building Standard. The strengthening work has brought it up to 67 per cent NBS.

The temporary shower and changing facilities supplied by the Council will now be removed.

Fresh start for Heathcote community facilities - 21 July 2014

The first step towards a new combined facility, replacing the much-loved, earthquake-damaged Heathcote Community Centre and the Heathcote Valley Community Library, begins on Monday 28 July.

Demolition will begin on the Heathcote Valley Community Library at 8 Martindales Road, followed by the demolition of the Heathcote Community Centre at 45 Bridle Path Road at a date to be determined. Following a period of consultation and design, construction of the replacement facility will begin at a Heathcote Valley location yet to be determined.

New community facility for Heathcote - Thursday 9 April 2014

At today’s Council meeting, the Council agreed to demolish Heathcote Community Centre and to rebuild a new community facility in the area. The Council agreed to go ahead with rebuilding a new Heathcote community facility subject to the Hagley-Ferrymead Community Board approving the final design and the total cost of the project remaining within the value of the available insurance settlement. The insurance proceeds from Heathcote Community Centre and Heathcote Volunteer Library will be used to fund the new facility.

Today Council approved the Hagley-Ferrymead Community Board’s recommendation to re-build the Sumner Surf Life Saving Club public toilets and changing facilities. The public toilet and changing facilities are fully funded by Council insurance. These facilities will be built in conjunction with the Sumner Surf Life Saving Club building, which will be funded by the Club.

Mt Pleasant Memorial Community Centre - Thursday 14 April 2014

Today the Council has approved a grant of $200,000 being made from the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral Relief Fund to the Mt Pleasant Memorial Community Centre and Residents Association Inc. towards the rebuilding of the Mount Pleasant War Memorial Community Centre.

Heathcote Voluntary Library and Community Centre to be demolished - Thursday 13 March 2014

The Council approved the recommendations today that the Heathcote Voluntary Library at 8 Martindales Road and the Community Centre at 45 Bridle Path Road are to be demolished, the latter being subject to written confirmation from the insurers.

Following feedback received from the Hagley-Ferrymead Community Board, the sites will be left in a community-friendly condition, the demolition will be as sustainable as possible and include community involvement where possible.

The recommendations also state that the community is to be consulted before any decisions are made on the site for the new community centre. The final decision on the design detail of the new Heathcote Community Centre facility will be made by the Community Board.

Council building occupancy policy revised

The Council agreed to revise the threshold for closing its non-residential buildings that have undergone a Detailed Engineering Evaluation (DEE) assessment, which could lead to some Council facilities re-opening. The Council agreed its policy of closing all non-residential buildings with a seismic capacity of less than 34 per cent of the New Building Standard (NBS) following a DEE assessment should be revised.

The policy was introduced in December 2011 following the Canterbury earthquakes. Engineers will now review the 236 closed Council buildings to determine if they can re-open. Buildings that can re-open will undergo a series of health and safety checks to ensure they comply with the Building Act before re-opening.

In future, only buildings that are under 34 per cent of the NBS with significant damage will not be occupied. A specialist engineering panel will be set up to provide recommendations on the occupancy of Council buildings that have a seismic capacity of less than 34 per cent of the NBS with a brittle collapse mechanism (defined as a part of a building which, on failure, could lead to a collapse). Buildings that fit into this category but are deemed fit to occupy by the engineering panel will also remain open.

The Council agreed to demolish the remainder of the badly damaged Lyttelton Service Centre, 33-35 London Street, which was partly demolished after the February 2011 earthquake. The Council’s Facilities Rebuild project team will investigate options for setting up the service centre next door in the Lyttelton Library, 35-37 Lyttelton Street. A combined library and service centre is a key action in the Lyttelton Master Plan in the event the service centre building is not replaced. Staff will report back to the Lyttelton/Mt Herbert Community Board with options.

Proposed change to the Council's building occupancy policy - Wednesday 12 February 2014

Christchurch City Council Earthquake recovery Committee of the Whole will reccomend to the Council that the threshold for closing Council-owned buildings that have undergone a Detailed Engineering Evaluation (DEE) should be revised. Currently any public building with less than 34 per cent of New Building Standard (NBS) is closed.

The new policy will recommend that those buildings that are not significantly damaged even if less than 34 per cent NBS should not be closed. This will bring the Council's policy more into line with advice from the Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment and the approach from other large organisations. The recomendation will go to the 27 February Council meeting.

New Aranui Community Centre a step closer - Tuesday 11 February 2014

Christchurch City Council’s Community Committee has recommended that a new Aranui Community Centre should be built at 31 Hampshire Street.

The committee will recommend to the full Council meeting on Thursday 13 February that it should progress to the detailed design, consent, tender and construction of the project.

It will also recommend that the closed Wainoni Aranui Family Centre, which is currently on the Hampshire Street site, should be demolished to make way for the new community centre.

The facility, which will include activity, meeting and office space, will cost an estimated $5.9 million to build. It will replace the Wainoni Aranui Family Centre and the nearby demolished Aranui Community Hall in Breezes Road.

The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust has granted $1 million towards the new facility, which includes a $500,000 donation from an anonymous donor*. Lions Club International will contribute $450,000.

Consultation with the community, which has been continuing since October 2011, has shown there is overwhelming support for the proposed concept. An extensive site selection process was also undertaken before the Hampshire St site was chosen.

The historic Mona Vale Homestead in Riccarton and the Gaiety Hall in Akaroa will both be repaired and strengthened to 67 per cent of the New Building Standard.

Both Mona Vale Homestead and Gaiety Hall in Akaroa will be repaired and strengthened to 67 per cent of the New Building Standard (NBS).

Repair and strengthening work is due to begin on both facilities in June/July this year. It is expected Gaiety Hall will re-open at the end of 2014, while Mona Vale Homestead will re-open at the end of 2015.

Christchurch City Council has reinstated the boundary fence around the existing exposed foundations on the former site of Godley House in Diamond Harbour.

The fencing was originally put up when the historic house was taken down in late-2011 under demolition orders (CERA Section 38) following irreparable damage in the Canterbury earthquakes.

The fencing was recently taken down but has been re-instated for a number of reasons:

The site is still a construction/ demolition site. This is because the foundations have been assessed as having archaeological value and therefore have not been removed as would normally happen in a standard demolition process.

The foundations are protected under the archaeological provisions of the Historic Places Act 1993 and will need further investigation and preservation.

The site is still a construction/ demolition site and is unsafe. It contains underground tanks (which could collapse), broken glass, sharp objects penetrating out of the concrete slabs and other dangerous debris.

The future of the site is being considered through the District Plan review.

Progress on Governors Bay Community Centre and Landsdowne Community Centre - Monday 13 January 2014

Demolition of the Governor’s Bay Community Centre and repairs began on the Landsdowne Community Centre, 4 Landsdowne Terrace in Cashmere on Monday 13 January.

The community centre, toilets and pottery shed will be demolished on the Governor’s Bay Community Centre site. The demolition, which will be carried out by Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) on behalf of the Council, does not include the historic Pierman Library on the same site. The contractor began work on site on Monday 13 January and the site is expected to be clear by Friday 14 February.

Repairs on the Landsdowne Community Centre are expected to take between four to six weeks. The community centre will remain open during this time. New asphalt will be laid on the carpark at the front of the community centre. There is alternative parking on the street outside the community centre.